Abstract

The underwater digital acoustic telemetry (UDAT) system is a set of underwater acoustic modems developed by the Engineering, Test and Evaluation Department at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division, Newport. The modems were designed to provide robust underwater acoustic communication at throughput data rates of approximately 900 and 1800 bits per second. Since February 1996 the modems have been used in nine exercises in five diverse deep‐water and shallow‐water environments. The results from the tests are very encouraging. Continuous, low‐error transmission has been achieved over many minutes (∼45 min). Detection ranges for the system have exceeded 4 km in shallow water and 8 km in deep water. In April and September 1997, the acoustic modems were used for continuous, full duplex, encrypted communications at the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC). This paper will review the design of the UDAT system, discuss the results from the field tests, and present the current status of the modems. [Development of the modems was sponsored by Naval Air Systems Command, PMA‐248.]